Editorial: UL's initiative facilitates growth

When the University of Louisiana at Lafayette launches its next two major construction projects in November, building a parking garage on Lewis Street and expanding its Athletic Complex, it will do so without any state funds.

That's a neat trick for a state university and it shows admirable initiative and confidence.

It is also imminently practical. Even before the current economic downturn, state funding for construction projects was slow in coming to colleges and universities, facilities director Bill Crist said.

For example, the university, then called the University of Southwestern Louisiana, started asking for funds to renovate Burke Hall in 1982. Renovations were completed in 2005, Crist said.

Two decades is a long time to wait, when a building needs repairs or expansion.

Sometimes the only way to get these projects done, Crist said, is to "build them yourself."

And so they will. The 1,150-space parking tower is expected to be completed by August 2014.

That's great news for students at UL, where on-campus parking has been scarce since at least the 1960s.

The stadium seating project is also scheduled for completion in time for the fall 2014 football season. It includes additional seating at Cajun Field and construction of an Athletics Performance Center and upgrades to the soccer and track facilities.

Doing it yourself is not exclusive to UL. Louisiana State University has financed construction projects themselves, as have universities in other states, Crist said.

It is a sad commentary on the state of higher education funding, but at the same time, a testament to the ingenuity and determination of institutions like UL and their students.

The state Bond Commission approved a bond issue last week and university officials expect to have the money in their hands by Nov. 1, Crist said.

The bonds for the parking garage will be repaid with money generated by parking fees and hourly parking. The expansion of the athletic facility will be repaid with money from an auxiliary facility improvement fee, which was approved by students and will generate about $1 million a year, and from the proceeds of ticket sales.

This is not the first self-financed improvement project UL has undertaken. A $100 million student housing project was recently completed. Baker, Hueger, Corona and Olivier dormitories were all financed through bonds and are being repaid through students' monthly rent payments.

Major renovations to the UL Student Union, costing $42 million, were also financed through a fee students imposed upon themselves, combined with bond money that is being paid back with the same student fees.

The entity through which the university has been borrowing bond money is Ragin' Cajun Facilities Inc., a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, which supports the university's mission through construction projects.

Universities have had to get creative to obtain money for needed construction projects, as state funding dried up, Crist said.

And this method has allowed UL to stay on track with its Master Plan for future growth.

This kind of self-reliance is good to see these days, when cuts to higher education are making it difficult for universities to grow.

It's also good to witness the commitment on the part of students to their university that makes them willing to pay the fees that make it possible to finance some of the construction projects.

There are many reasons for Acadiana to be proud of its university. This is one more.

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Editorial: UL's initiative facilitates growth

When the University of Louisiana at Lafayette launches its next two major construction projects in November, building a parking garage on Lewis Street and expanding its Athletic Complex, it will do